Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
The governor of Texas has issued an executive order prohibiting employers from requiring employees to receive vaccines: COVID-19 updates.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Monday barring any Texas entity from requiring COVID-19 vaccines for workers or consumers, expanding on a previous directive that only applied to government entities.
Abbott also requested that lawmakers address the problem during the current special legislative session, guaranteeing that “no entity in Texas can coerce receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination.”
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“The COVID-19 vaccination is safe, effective, and our greatest protection against the virus,” Abbott said in a statement.
“However, it should always be voluntary and never forced.”
Abbott, who was previously immunized but subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, has pushed Texans to be vaccinated during the epidemic, but has prohibited school systems, cities, counties, and other entities from mandating vaccinations.
The state government enacted a legislation outlawing so-called “vaccine passports” earlier this year, which means that private businesses cannot compel customers to wear masks, but enterprises could still require staff to get immunizations until Monday.
The number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Texas has recently decreased.
However, the death toll from the current surge caused by the delta variety is quickly nearing 67,000, bringing the total number of fatalities in the state to 67,000 since the pandemic began in 2020.
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A prior executive order prohibited government entities, cities, counties, and school districts from requiring COVID-19 vaccines, which the San Antonio Independent School District is presently fighting in court.
A prohibition on so-called vaccine passports — which would allow companies to demand proof of immunization from consumers — was also put into law by the Legislature.
President Joe Biden’s measures in September, requiring all companies with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccinations or test weekly for the virus, appear to have influenced the new decision.
All federal government employees and contractors must also be vaccinated, according to Biden.
“The Biden Administration is now pressuring numerous private organizations into implementing COVID-19 vaccination mandates, causing workforce disruptions that endanger Texas’s continuing recovery from the COVID-19 debacle,” Abbott stated in his order.
Texans are completely immunized in around 52% of cases. Abbott has already urged for individuals to obtain the vaccine after being inoculated on television.
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However, in recent months, as the delta variation has resulted in an increase in cases and hospitalizations, he has focused his political capital on opposing local school district and government demands for vaccines and masks.
In his order, Abbott wrote, “The Biden Administration is now pressing multiple private businesses to adopt COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that jeopardize Texas’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 fiasco.”
In around 52 percent of instances, Texans are fully vaccinated.
After getting vaccinated on air, Abbott has already pushed people to get the vaccination.
He has focused his political capital on fighting local school district and government demands for vaccinations and masks in recent months, as the delta fluctuation has resulted in a rise in cases and hospitalizations.